* "Lobby in Washington." Wait a minute! Wasn't it through credit union petitioning that our movement got its collective voice heard and gained the ability to serve members in the first place?

It's true that for many people (like me) who've been part of the credit union movement for upwards of 25 years, being termed an industry sometimes gets our dander up. That's because we know credit unions operate under the same not-for-profit, mutual-self-help structure and philosophy as they did when they first struggled for that right in the early 1900s (during which time the bankers also fought against it). Others believe "industry" works fine and takes nothing away from our people-helping-people nature. (Personally, I also like the term "community.")

But regardless of the words used to describe credit unions, Mr. Umholtz undoubtedly knows his arguments are quite beside the point. Just as was true when the Federal Credit Union Act was enacted 72 years ago, credit unions are owned and controlled by their members. They are governed by unpaid, non-stockholder boards of directors, elected from among those members. And they continue to typically charge lower fees (or no fees) for services, while paying higher dividends and charging lower interest on loans.

Members know it, too, as attested in the most recent American Banker/Gallup consumer survey (October 2005), in which, for the 21st year in a row, credit unions received considerably higher marks than banks on consumer satisfaction. Margaret J. Blankers, President MJB Public Relations Group, LLC Overland Park, Kan.